SOIL DEvelopmental Control on Organic matter Dynamics in changing alpine Environments (SOIL DECODE)
Objectives
The main objectives of the project are to develop a mechanistic understanding of how parent material and elevation (as a proxy for climate) interactively control soil organic matter (SOM) stabilization and to elucidate the major drivers of SOM stabilization in high elevation mountain ecosystems (see conceptual figure below). The main hypothesis is that parent material will impact SOM stabilization through its control on geochemistry and thus potential for soil matrix development and nutrient supply, while elevation will impact SOM stabilization through its climatic control on OM inputs from vegetation and soil weathering intensity. Specifically, the proposed project will assess the interaction of parent material and elevation on (i) the distribution and age of SOM among soil depths and soil fractions, (ii) the decomposability of SOM and microbial nutrient acquisition strategies during temperature-sensitive decomposition among soil depths and (iii) the molecular dynamics of plant- and microbial-derived SOM among soil depths and soil fractions.
Submitted proposal Marco Griepentrog
Project partners
- Prof. Dr. Timothy Eglinton (Biogeoscience, Department of Earth Sciences, ETH Zurich)
- Prof. Dr. Jake Alexander (Plant Ecology, Department of Environmental Systems Science, ETH Zurich)
- external pageDr. Frank Hagedorn (Biogeochemistry, Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL, Birmensdorf)
- external pageDr. Ralf Kiese (Ecosystem Matter Fluxes, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany)
Contact
Dr. Marco Griepentrog ()
References
Hagedorn, F., Gavazov, K. & Alexander, J.M. 2019. Above- and belowground linkages shape responses of mountain vegetation to climate change. Science, 365, 1119–1123.
Doetterl, S., Berhe, A.A., Arnold, C., Bodé, S., Fiener, P., Finke, P., Fuchslueger, L., Griepentrog, M., Harden, J.W., Nadeu, E., Schnecker, J., Six, J., Trumbore, S., Oost, K.V., Vogel, C. & Boeckx, P. 2018. Links among warming, carbon and microbial dynamics mediated by soil mineral weathering. Nature Geoscience, 11, 589–593.
Doetterl, S., Stevens, A., Six, J., Merckx, R., Van Oost, K., Casanova Pinto, M., Casanova-Katny, A., Muñoz, C., Boudin, M., Zagal Venegas, E. & Boeckx, P. 2015c. Soil carbon storage controlled by interactions between geochemistry and climate. Nature Geoscience, 8, 780–783.